Michigan

Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has responsibility over matters relating to healthcare, left, with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, shown at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, Wednesday. On Friday, the House voted to pass Upton's Keep Your Health Plan Act, which would allow insurers to keep selling insurance that doesn't meet the minimum standards of the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Political observers had been watching closely to
see how many Democrats would support the bill, which had more than 150
cosponsors. In the end, 39 Democrats voted in favor of the plan and four Republicans voted against it. Seventeen representatives did not vote.

The vote came one day after President Obama announced
a policy change that would allow insurance companies to offer existing plans to
current customers for one year, even if those plans did not meet the minimum
standards of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In his opening remarks Friday, Upton accused the
president of doing an "end run" around Congress.

"For the last six weeks, the White House stood idly
by, ignoring the pleas of millions. But as the administration's allies in
Congress panicked, the White House went from attacking our thoughtful bill to
making an end run around Congress with a unilateral 'fix,'" said Upton,
chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Our straightforward,
one-page bill says if you like your current coverage, you should be able to
keep it. The president should heed his own advice and work with us, the
Congress, as the Founders intended, not around the legislative process."

Under the Keep Your Health Plan Act, in 2014, new
customers could purchase the plans as well -- something the administration has
said would undercut the ACA.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., led opposition
to the bill, calling it "another vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act,"
saying it would take away core protections of that law and create "an entire
shadow market of substandard health insurance plans."

And Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., called the Keep
Your Health Plan Act "a regrettable piece of legislation" that would allow "snake
oil salesmen to run around the country selling bad policies."

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., may introduce a similar bill in the Senate, but reports said that her proposal
would include a provision to keep insurance companies from selling new policies
that don't meet the minimum requirements of Obamacare.

Yvonne Zipp is a staff writer at the Kalamazoo Gazette. Email her at yzipp@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter.